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You can just about smell the memories when you walk into the Towers Family Historical Museum. This time of year, the air has a hint of holidays mixed in. Thousands of twinkling Christmas lights reflect on the polished tractors, painted window panes, and the old diner counter.
That’s when Compass Hospice rolls in to set up for the annual Festival of Trees.
If you’ve never been, it’s almost impossible to picture it in all its glory. There’s already a certain magic to the museum in the way it can make you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. The Festival of Trees only adds to that magic, as the museum is filled to the brim with Christmas trees. Big ones, small ones, fancy ones covered in glitter, and simple ones decked out with homemade ornaments. All lovingly decorated and donated to raise money for a worthy cause.
Bill Towers built this museum the way most good things are built: slowly, and with care. His wife, Gail, recalls that he purchased his first tractor back in 2004, after his granddaughter Bailey was born. Then he bought another. And another. Before long, Gail said, the tractors were taking over. When an idea struck his fancy, or he found a new antique he had to have, he’d just add another room. Gail said, “I told him he couldn’t go any further, because the only way he could go was up.”
Bill had a soft spot for anything related to Caroline County. If a friend called him and said, “I’ve got something in my shed, I don’t know what to do with it,” chances are he’d find a place for it. A local boy himself, he liked things that tied back to local life.
In the museum are life-size pieces of this history. There’s a mid-20th-century diner modeled after the old soda fountain that is now the Market Street Pub. If you don’t get lost first, you can also find a drag strip, a cozy living room corner with a checkerboard, murals of Houston’s Mill, and even a couple of Model Ts sitting near a recreated gas station. You have to look real close at that last one – it seems so real you might miss that it’s actually the bathroom.
“Thank goodness for Bailey, and before her Landon, for keeping it clean,” Gail says, referencing a couple of her and Bill’s grandchildren. Michele Bodine, their daughter, said that their family has always loved Christmas, and it has been a joy working with Compass Hospice to bring the Festival of Trees to life in the museum.
Before it came to the Towers Museum, the Festival was held at the Chesapeake Culinary Center in Denton. But after a few years, the space just couldn’t hold the ever-growing number of trees and people who wanted to see them. So in 2017, Compass Hospice moved the festival to the Towers family’s museum.
It was a good fit from the start. “The first year – of course, mostly women come to the Festival of Trees – and we had women coming through here, and they'd say, ‘Oh, I gotta get my husband,’” Gail said, laughing. She found that not only did the husbands enjoy coming to see the antiques, but they were usually more easily persuaded to bid higher once the spirit of competition set in.
By the second year at the museum, Compass had 35 trees to auction off. By 2024, they had around 120. Every one of them was decorated by either families, businesses, clubs, or local organizations. When all was said and done last year, the event had raised about $50,000 for Compass Hospice.
If you haven’t heard of Compass Regional Hospice yet, they provide hospice care, supportive care, and free grief counseling in Caroline, Kent, and Queen Annes counties. They even visit schools and run Camp New Dawn, a retreat for kids and teens who’ve lost loved ones. Perhaps most importantly, Compass stays ready to support the community in their grief if there’s a tragedy. They do not turn away anyone without the means to pay for these offerings, which is why these fundraisers are so important.
According to his family, Bill Towers didn’t necessarily have a reason to support Compass Hospice other than he saw a need, and figured he could fill it. “Everybody that I’ve heard talk about Mr. Bill says the same thing,” said Hayley Greenwood, Compass’s Marketing and Communications Specialist, “he just wanted to do it, not for recognition or anything, just to support a good cause.” And it’s not just around Christmastime that the Towers open their property to Compass. Every spring, they host the organization’s annual car show, another big fundraiser that draws people from all over.
When Bill’s health started to decline earlier this year, Compass was there for the Towers family, too. “We always thought hospice was such a needed service,” Gail shared to Compass Hospice, “We were thankful for their support and care as we went through Bill’s final days here at home.” After Bill passed in May, there was never any question about whether the Festival would continue. Now, it goes on in his honor.
Planning the Festival of Trees is no small thing. “It’s year-round,” says Michele, “As soon as it’s done, we have to start planning for next year.” The museum comes alive as Compass volunteers and members of the Towers family spend weeks transforming the space into a winter wonderland. If you ask Gail, she doesn’t mind a bit, saying, “It gets you in the Christmas spirit.”
“I just love the people coming in,” Gail said of the crowd the event brings, “and the competition.”
